


One Way or Another

by PhloxFox (Ravenwood316)



Series: Across The Universe [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Blood, Dib/Zim only mentioned, Eye Gouging, Eye Trauma, Gen, Gore, Graphic depictions of violence - Freeform, dib is missing, did I mention blood, gir is dead, lots of death, prisoner 777’s name is Genn Fer, red and purple do not have a good time, resisty au with murder, someone gets their throat ripped out, zim is pissed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:21:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24865993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenwood316/pseuds/PhloxFox
Summary: Normally Zim wouldn’t bother throwing his hat into anything to do with Irk after how he was treated but Red and Purple crossed a line that he couldn’t ignore this time.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple & Almighty Tallest Red, Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), The Almighty Tallest & Zim, Zim & Lard Nar
Series: Across The Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784341
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61





	One Way or Another

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank ace_the_space_head for being my amazing beta!!! I don’t think I could have finished this without them!
> 
> Named after the song One Way Or All by Blondie

Zim was seething from the pilot’s chair as he pressed the yoke further into the dash in hopes the tiny ship would go faster. After eons of existence the Irken Empire was about to fall to his claws. A part of him that he strangled and beat into submission was screaming at him to stop and think, but the other part was reveling in the fact his training was finally getting some use. 

He growled low in his throat as he raced across the stars ignoring yet another message from the Resisty demanding to know his plan. If he hadn’t needed a ship better than Tak’s voot those idiots wouldn’t even know something was about to go down. Normally Zim wouldn’t bother throwing his hat into anything to do with Irk after how he was treated but Red and Purple crossed a line that he couldn’t ignore this time. 

Checking his trajectory one more time Zim switched the ship to autopilot and left the cramped cockpit to double check his weaponry. Living on Earth for so many years made him an expert on how harmful things were to Irkens. He had a chemical dart to pollute the Massive’s entire water supply since he knew Irken filters would fail to clean it properly, a cooler of meat and beans to melt flesh, some things he had stolen from Membrane labs over the years, and Vortian tech he built from memory or schematics he got from Genn Fer. 

Zim quickly gathered everything, storing it all away in his PAK for easy access. Once everything was stored away the Irken pulled on a faded blue shirt and a black leather duster before finally accepting one of the Resisty’s calls. Lard Nar’s face took up the entire windscreen as Zim continued to go through his checklist. 

“Zim tell me what you have planned. I’m not risking my forces to help you without a clear plan!” The Vortian demanded his goat like antennae twitching like mad. Zim simply rolled his eyes, his own antennae back against his head as he turned to his former mentor. 

“I didn’t ask for your help Nar I asked for an unmarked ship. There’s a difference.” He huffed checking the final item off his list.

“I still want to help you Zim the entire universe saw your trial so to have you show up now is-“ the Vortian was cut off as Zim pulled up two photos on the screen. 

“Normally I wouldn’t step foot back in Irken space but the Tallests have made this personal.” Zim stated looking at the photos. One photo was of a robot in a green costume and the other of the Invader laughing at a large headed alien who was glaring at the other. 

“After my trial I returned to Earth where I had been exiled thinking it was part of my mission. Over the years I built a life there and even though it went against what I had been taught by the Empire I fell in love and took a mate,” Zim explained cycling through photos. 

“I figured since the Control Brains couldn’t touch me that staying off the Tallest’s radar would be enough to keep us safe. Clearly I was wrong. I made the mistake two years after the trial of opening a florpus hole in hopes that my mission hadn’t been a huge lie and the Massive went through it. They recently managed to escape and came looking for me. Instead of simply destroying my planet Red and Purple destroyed my base, murdered my SIR unit, and took my mate. I’m out for blood and I plan on bathing in it.” 

Without waiting for a reply or acknowledging the Vortian’s expression Zim cut the call and blocked any further communication. Zim sat in near silence as the ship counted down the distance from the Massive. Knowing he might not survive the next part of his ill advised plan the Irken sent the Resisty one last message containing his entire knowledge of Irk and the armada as well as begging them to find his mate and his goodbyes to the very few beings he still had ties to. 

As the Massive came into view Zim cloaked his ship with a few button presses and readied himself. Once he was close enough Zim shot himself at one of the Massive‘s open loading docks after programming the autopilot to take his tiny ship back to the Resisty. He landed easily rolling till he was on his feet and hiding among the cargo before slipping past the worker drones. 

Staying hidden was surprisingly easy as Zim made his way to the power core but it might have also helped he was finally regulation Elite height he supposed but also anyone working for the Tallest were idiots. As quietly as he could Zim entered the core room and quickly disposed of every Irken working inside. Flicking the blood from his claws, Zim quickly hacked into the Massive’s databases, being careful not to be detected by the drones on the bridge. 

He easily located the Massive’s flight plan since escaping the florpus hole including their stop to Earth. He found the orders given to destroy his base and that apparently they thought he was finally dead. The only thing he didn’t find was what they did with his Dib. Growling again Zim uploaded the virus Lard Nar had given him in exchange for the ship and set to work on his own plan. Working quickly Zim used his dart to contaminate the water supply and took a moment to center himself as the chemical mixture slowly spread through the water before overriding the systems and activating the sprinklers for the entire ship. 

If the Tallests thought him dead then someone should tell them the good news. Zim froze for a second as the virus took hold and lowered the ship’s defenses. A few seconds later the alarms sounded and the Massive rocked violently as the Resisty started their assault. Zim took out any and all Irkens he came into contact with by quickly jabbing a pak leg through the center of their paks and out through their squeedlyspooch killing them instantly. 

Zim was in the middle of murdering service drones when he noticed the cameras finally detect him. Making sure to keep eye contact with one the Irken made a point of pulling off another’s pak before ripping the flesh body in half. Picking up speed and ignoring how the water made his skin burn Zim finally forced his way onto the bridge. 

Everything was chaos. The drones in charge of the ship’s systems were trying desperately to regain control of the sprinklers, while the ones over the defenses were fighting the virus so they could counter the ion blasts. Another hard hit threw everyone to the ground and sent the Tallests tumbling across the bridge. 

“We’ve lost all control my Tallests!” Drones from both sides yelled as Zim continued to stay unnoticed. 

“Fix it now or you’re all getting thrown out of the airlock!!” Purple screeched, regaining himself quicker than Red. 

“My Tallests we’re being hailed!” Another drone called out as Red finally rose to his full height 

“Little busy here! Ignore it!” He growled before another blast sent him back to the floor causing his skin to sizzle more as he landed in a water puddle.

“I can’t stop it!!” The drone wailed as Lard Nar’s face appeared on the screen 

“We’ve got you surrounded and cut off from the reinforcements you called for. It’d be in your best interest to surrender.” The Vortian stated as Zim worked his way through the room cutting down any Irken in his way. Red and Purple, ignoring the screaming behind them, glared at the screen. 

“Like hell that’s going to happen asshole. In case you’ve forgotten we’re the Irken Empire! We’ve taken down not only Vort but almost every planet in this galaxy!” Red scoffed 

“Yeah we’re unstoppable! Just try to defeat us.” Purple added not noticing Lard Nar flinch as Zim made it rain blood in the background. Zim tuned out the entire conversation even after the remaining drones either escaped the room or took cover. He was more than satisfied in seeing that the contaminated water was melting the skins of his former leaders. Neither Red nor Purple were acknowledging the water but Zim could see Purple shaking slightly and how Red hissed under his breath as the water slid down his skin.

Zim inched his way closer leaving a translucent pink trail in his wake. The Tallests were still distracted and by his tone Lard Nar was getting fed up. 

“Well if you two refuse to see reason I have no choice but to leave you to your fates.” The Vortian sighed. 

“What do you mean our fates?” Red scoffed “We’re untouchable” 

“Yeah who would be stupid enough to try and take us down?” Purple laughed with Red joining in. While they laughed Lard Nar sealed the doors to the bridge with the press of a button. Both Red and Purple’s antennae perked up at hearing the doors lock echo through the normally loud bridge. Turning to yell at the drones the pair stopped cold taking in the scene behind them. 

Bodies of drones littered just about every surface and everything was coated in blood. Red levitated over to one of the corpses on the floor turning it over. The water from the faulty sprinklers had burned away parts of its body but what got his attention the most was something brown and organic smelling had melted its face. Purple was about to ask something when a voice they’d never forget sounded from the ceiling.

“Hello My Tallests.” The sing-songy voice purred as the two Irken leaders froze and slowly looked upwards. Zim was slowly descending from the ceiling on bloody pak legs. The Irken hung there dripping blood and poison water as he grinned down at his former leaders. As Red and Purple took him in they noticed several places on his face where the water had melted flesh and that he was missing his left eye. They also noticed he had grown an extra set of arms and all four were pointing weapons at them. 

“Now you’re probably wondering why I’m here seeing as last time we saw each other you had sent someone to destroy my home.” Zim chuckled like he was having a normal conversation. 

“What do you want Zim?” Red asked, keeping Purple behind him and eyeing the weaponry in his face. 

“Yeah we thought you were finally dead!” Purple yelled clearly not reading the situation as Zim turned his unsettling smile in his direction. 

“Oh what I want is simple.” Zim started “I just want to know where my mate is and you two are going to tell me where he is.” He finished with a purr as he crept closer, never breaking eye contact. 

“Why should we tell you anything Zim?” Red inquired hoping to keep the other talking. 

“Why?” Zim grinned tilting his head to one side and grin growing wider before firing one of his weapons at a drone who had managed to escape the carnage melting its flesh with more of the brown organic substance. 

Red and Purple stared in silent horror as the drone screeched as their skin bubbled up and fused with it till the drone expired from its injuries. 

“I’ll ask again what have you done with my mate?” Zim repeated losing all playfulness as their attention snapped back to him. 

“And if we tell you we gave the alien to the mercenaries as payment for destroying your base?” Purple wondered before Zim launched himself forward taking Purple down with him. The pair rolled around the floor clawing at each other. 

“You what?!” Zim shrieked, slamming Purple’s head against the floor several times till the talker Irken stopped struggling. Zim sat on his chest heaving lost in his own thoughts till Purple’s pak legs surged forward taking out Zim’s other eye. The smaller Irken hissed reaching out blindly till his claws made contact with one of Purple’s eye sockets pulling the eye free. Zim skittered backwards on his own metal legs connecting the stolen eye to his melted socket. 

Red quickly dove forward to help his counterpart up making sure not to take his eyes off Zim. 

“Why couldn’t you leave me alone?” The small Irken cried “I was perfectly fine on Earth, I was light years away from Irken space. I get that you were stupid enough to go through the florpus hole I opened when I was still denying that you two tried to actively kill me on Judgementia. 

“You could have just forgotten about me like you had before. But no, you decided to hire someone to land on my planet, murder Gir, destroy my home, capture my human, and leave me for dead.” Zim growled as the tallests huddled together.

“You should have done the universe a favor and just fucking died Zim. You should never have found Urth, you never should have survived on it, you never should have made it off Judgementia. Maybe we should have ignored you after escaping the hole but you know what knowing you were finally dead was too big of an opportunity!” Red hissed stalking forward, finally having enough. 

“Um Red?” Purple tried to interject while watching Zim’s body language but the other kept going. 

“I honestly hope that your pathetic little human is dead and floating in space somewhere because honestly it’s what you deserve.” Red drove his point home quite literally by jabbing one of his two claws into Zim’s chest. The bridge went silent except for the hissing of their skins from the water and Red’s heavy breathing. Then before anyone could even blink Zim surged forward and sunk his teeth into Red’s throat. 

Zim barely registered Purple screaming as everything faded into white noise as he sunk his teeth deeper. The pair fell back to the water soaked floor with Red landing hard on his pak, a garbled yell making the throat in Zim’s mouth vibrate. Zim could feel the blood dribble down his face as he finally closed his jaws around his prize. With an unsightly squelching noise Zim ripped out Red’s windpipe. 

Getting off the body Zim reached forward grabbing one of Red’s eyes to replace the one Purple destroyed. The remaining Tallest watched in silent horror as the body of his long time friend convulsed against the floor as his pak tried and failed to fix the damage. Once the flesh body expired Zim lifted a blood stained metal leg and plunged it through Red’s quiet chest destroying the pak in the process. Purple knew he was next and turned on his heel trying to put as much distance between him and Zim. 

Zim watched as the other desperately tried to escape before pulling out his meat ray and shooting Purple in the pak. The sprinklers finally ran out of water as Zim lowered himself to his feet and casually made his way over to the cowering Irken on the floor. As he made his way over he noticed his life clock had started its counter at some point and resigned himself to his fate. 

“I no longer care what happens to me but at least I’ll know the universe is finally safe from the Irken Empire.” Zim smiled at Purple before picking up a broken pak leg from a corpse and jabbing it through Purple’s pak. However in an attempt to take his killer with him Purple stabbed Zim before succumbing to his injuries. Zim blinked slowly down at the metal protruding from his chest as the life clock ticked faster. 

He barely even registered when Lard Nar and the Resisty stormed the bridge before hurrying him back to their own medical bay. The only thing on his mind as he finally sank into the darkness was that Dib was going to royally pissed he got blood all over his favorite shirt.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to yell at me, ask questions, or just want to say hi you can find me over on my tumblr which is phloxfox87. 
> 
> If you enjoyed this please drop a comment and leave some kudos!!!!


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